Embodiments of the present invention relate to processing methods and systems for performing arithmetic calculations on massive databases.
Modern firms rely on computer systems to manage their business processes and generate electronic records from their operations. These computer systems often require sophisticated, large-scale database systems to store such records. Often, the firms require calculations to be performed on various records. Many of the calculations (e.g., a sum of given transactions, an average of given transactions) may use data from a variety of database objects as operands. Of course, the calculations' operands may not be easily identifiable.
Consider a bank as an example. Banks commonly maintain records regarding member accounts or other instruments (e.g., loans, options, etc.). If a bank were required to sum up principal amounts, of for example, all loans of a given type having an expiration date within a particular calendar year, the computer system first would have to search serially through its database records to identify objects that satisfy the search criterion, then it would perform the commanded calculation. For a bank that stores information regarding a million instruments, this process consumes a considerable amount of time. The expense of these calculations becomes particularly acute when the bank must perform multiple calculations with multiple divergent search criteria.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a processing scheme for performing arithmetic calculations on large-scale databases.